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Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, will enter the Bosnian market this year by introducing flights to Banja Luka. It comes following protracted talks with the government of the Entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The carrier will introduce two weekly services from Charleroi Airport in Belgium, each Monday and Friday, starting October 29, as well as from Memmingen in Germany from October 30, each Tuesday and Saturday. The Prime Minister of the entity, Željka Cvijanović, has said that "several additional destinations will also be launched" by the airline in the coming period. Tickets for the new routes are already available for purchase through the carrier's website.
Commenting on the new route, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing Executive for Belgium, Helene Begasse, said, “We are pleased to announce a new Brussels Charleroi to Banja Luka route commencing this November. This new route marks Ryanair's entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina, and wi…

The world's largest carrier, American Airlines, is considering introducing seasonal flights to Dubrovnik. According to the "TangoSix" portal, the company is in talks with the airport over a seasonal service from Philadelphia. A decision on the matter is expected within the next month. American operates a number of seasonal flights to Europe from its Philadelphia hub including Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Lisbon, Prague, Shannon and Venice. This year, the airline expanded its reach from Philadelphia into Europe with seasonal flights to Budapest and Prague. Both are operated by its Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The move is seen as affirming American’s commitment to Philadelphia as a trans-Atlantic gateway.
Dubrovnik Airport has identified the United States and South Korea as two far-away markets which could sustain services to the coastal city. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, Dubrovnik Airport's General Manager, Frano Luetić, said, "These two far-…

EX-YU airlines gear up for fleet renewal

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The three largest national carriers from the former Yugoslavia are expected to make important decisions over the coming months concerning their fleets. Both Air Serbia and Croatia Airlines plan to add regional aircraft, while Adria continues to show its commitment to Bombardier.

Air Serbia's Chairman, Siniša Mali, has said the airline is looking to develop its regional fleet in the coming year in a bid to strengthen its network. The carrier, which currently operates six ageing 66-seat ATR 72 planes, is yet to decide on whether it will maintain its regional operations with turboprop or jet-engine aircraft in the future. "Our strategy is to start flying double daily to a number of cities and to get new regional planes. We will see whether they will be turboprops or jet-engine aircraft. With these, we can cover points in the region", Mr Mali said recently. Last year, Air Serbia's CEO, Dane Kondić, noted that such a decision will depend on a range of factors such as pricing and other terms and conditions. However, leasing aircraft, rather than ordering them from the manufacturer, could be a simpler solution due to the longer time required to deliver new-built aircraft. Russian plane manufacturer Sukhoi and the Japanese Mitsubishi have both approached Air Serbia in regards to its future regional fleet operations. A decision on the make-up of its regional fleet is expected next year ahead of the arrival of ten ordered Airbus A320neos from the second half of 2018 through to 2020. "The new fleet of A320neo aircraft are a key part of our strategy with which we intend to redefine our position on the market, with the most modern and comfortable single-aisle aircraft. As we expand our destination network throughout Europe, we will set new standards with the A320neo both in comfort and quality of service", Mr Kondić said recently.

Croatia Airlines is expected to make a decision concerning the acquisition of 100-seat aircraft within a month. The airline plans to expand its fleet next year, as well as add an additional four Airbus A320neo jets in 2021. Two 100-seat jets are expected to enter the fleet next year with both Bombardier and Embraer models being considered. Ultimately, the carrier aims to add between four to six aircraft of the type. In 2018 Croatia Airlines will also have to decide whether it will extend a financial lease agreement of its six Dash 8 turboprops or opt for another aircraft type altogether. The former is believed to be the more likely option. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet, which has the capacity to seat between seventy and ninety passengers, is seen as a possible alternative for the Dash 8s, with the plane manufacturer itself confirming that Croatia Airlines is one of its core customer targets in Europe. "Croatia Airlines is intensively considering all options for redesigning its fleet, primarily regarding the introduction of 100-seat aircraft, which will enable the company to bridge the capacity difference of the currently used Airbus A319/320 and Dash 8-Q400 aircraft", the carrier said. It added, "Accordingly, the company's Management Board has initiated negotiations with all global producers of 100-seat aircraft, including the Canadian company Bombardier Aerospace, the producer of six Dash 8s which are already a part of Croatia Airlines' fleet".

Adria Airways’ new owners have said the airline's fleet will be expanded this year with “several Bombardier jets”. In January Adria added a second Bombardier CRJ700, which was followed with the lease of a CRJ900ER in April. The carrier is believed to be arranging the addition of another jet to its fleet in the coming months. Despite Adria's plans to retire its aging CRJ200 aircraft during the first quarter of the year, it is now expected to remain with the carrier until further notice. Over the next few years, the Slovenian airline will have to renegotiate aircraft leasing terms for its existing fleet. Next year, the lease for one of its CRJ700 jets will expire, while leasing arrangements for six CRJ900s, which make up the bulk of Adria's fleet, will end in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Leases for three Airbus A319s run until 2021 and 2024. Adria boasts the youngest fleet out of any national carrier in the former Yugoslavia with its average age amounting to nine years.

Pretty much over the next 5 years we will probably see a complete change in Croatia Airlines’ fleet. CRJ 900s will replace A319s, A320neos replace the A320s and my guess is the Q400s will stay part of the fleet.

It´s strange that neither JU nor OU are interested in Embraer´s. Very reliable and efficient a/c and already used by so many European airlines e.g. LH, OS, AF, LO, FB and so on. Excellent safe record and maintenance. But yeah, MRJ for OU should be a super cool option.C-series is sometimes criticised as being a "flying can" but won´t believe it until I try myself.A320 neo is a good option for JU but would be trickier to fill in the winter season.

Also interested to know why Embraer has never been of interest to either of the,m. I remember that Embraer did pitch its plane to Jat Airways in 2004 or so. They even operated a promotional Belgrade - Tivat flights.

Service reduction already?? Interesting that with the rest of the destinations it´s not the same. Doubt it´s fleet shortage but rather giving priority to more important summer destinations e.g. Spain, Italy.

Neither have you dear :) Dropping freqs in peak season is standard practice in some places, easyJet comes to mind for instance. Freqs get swapped to higher yielding seasonal services unless it's top priority to keep the product intact.

It's also the original message tone that draws the kneejerk reactions. Tone it down and you might get a reasonable debate, should it be sufficiently intriguing. Cheers.

MRJ would be a good plane for Air Serbia. Unfortunately it does not fit into their plan to get regional aircraft in relatively quickly which probably means getting second hand planes instead for speedy delivery.

A lot of people do not like flying with turboprops be it ATR or Dash 8s. A good example of that is Montenegro-Serbia market. Many people choose to fly Montenegro Airlines simply because they will fly either Embraer of Fokker.

Why would you want to swap Dash or ATR for 70-90 seater jets? That's most stupidest move I ever heard! Comparable jets of that size use up to 30% more fuel than props hence they are much less economical and are associated with higher maintenance costs.

Yes, but with fuel not exceedingly expensive - which is the case now - jets can close that gap. You can also use the jets on longer routes, and thus would not need to lease the plane from Slovenia to start flying to Hamburg, etc.

In my opinion, they should keep the ATR, and add a 80-100 seater to the fleet, too.

Nice but expensive to operate long haul dest with just 2 weekly flightsDo BKK HKG PVG or PEK 5-7 weekly, increase JFK to 6 or 7 and do YYZ and ORD 4-5 weeklySIN not sure. Ex ZRH we hve over 800 seats a day but I know a lot of it is Business travel. So not sure how well it wld do ex BEGNRT would be nice but probably too early. Let the other destinations work first

For longhaul JU should stick to only JFK, ORD, YYZ, and PEK. Other destinations don't have enough O/D passengers to be successful plus many such as Tokyo and Los Angeles are way too far for an A330 to go there, turn around, and be back in 24 hours as is the case with JFK.

I think a reasonable goal should be to launch those four destinations by 2020, so one destination per year.

With a fleet of four A330-200s, this is what could be done:JFK 5x weekly (but with better slots)YYZ 5x weekly PEK 5x weeklyORD 4x weekly (it is about 300-400nm further than the other destinations so five weekly flights I think would be too risky)

This is 19 weekly flights. If they arrange the flights correctly, they could maybe even hold that schedule if one plane has to stay on the ground.

If things go very well, maybe add a fifth plane to increase frequency during the summer (such as JFK going daily) and during the winter they can use that plane for flights to the Caribbean or Thailand or other popular winter sun destinations. Serbia has access to many summer sea destinations but not much choice when it comes to popular places in the winter. There are a small number of people who can afford such stuff and if it is correctly marketed a I think it could be a success.

Cincerning Air Serbia. Toronto and Chicago are at the same route, and will probably be serviced 3 times per week. Other destinations are not realistic in the mid-term calculations.

There's no reason to swap ATRs for any other than new generation ATR 72-600. Even leased ATR 72-500 will do the job perfectly. Mitsubishi MRJ90 or Embraer would be a great addition to the fleet, as there are not too many customers announced yet for the former, and thus ASL vould negotiate a better price for 4 or 6 MRJs. Aircraft for a Long-haul can be only Airbus A330 or A350, but another A330-200 will enable faster profit until ASL can consider byuing a new one, and A330 neo would make more sense looking at it now.

Concerning Air Serbia. Toronto and Chicago are at the same route, and will probably be serviced 3 times per week. Other destinations are not realistic in the mid-term calculations.

There's no reason to swap ATRs for any other than new generation ATR 72-600. Even leased ATR 72-500 will do the job perfectly. Mitsubishi MRJ90 or Embraer would be a great addition to the fleet, as there are not too many customers announced yet for the former, and thus ASL would negotiate a better price for 4 or 6 MRJs. Aircraft for a Long-haul can be only Airbus A330 or A350, but another A330-200 will enable faster profit until ASL can consider byuing a new one, and A330 neo would make more sense looking at it now.

OT: Very interesting developments going on today at OS. There is a big press conference at 10:30 in Vienna. Expected to announce +5 A320, +1 777, new premium Eco on long haul fleet and Seychelles as new destination, ...

While Adria was operating their CRJ on behalf of JU this summer (maybe still is) Air Serbia who were flying on board as JU guest ambassadors got asked if they liked the plane, overall working conditions and if they would like to work on a plane like this.

AIRSERBIA: do they have the money to buy or lease now anything? I don't think so! CROATIA AIRLINES: whatever Mr kucko says , probably the opposite will happen. Most likely the 100 seater will be an old AVRO-RJ-100 ! ADRIA AIRWAYS: lost case!

By 2020, I can see Air Serbia's fleet like this:10-17 smaller planes for the region (ATRs, Mitsubishi, Sukhoi or Embraers);15 planes with capacity of about 130-170 passengers for big European cities and Abu Dhabi, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Cairo, Astana and so on;5-6 wide-bodies for flights to JFK (7 pw), ORD (5pw), YYZ (3-5pw), PEK (7pw), INC or NRT (3-4pw) and maybe some African cities and South-American cities. I believe that Sao Paolo, Rio De Janeiro, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Cape Town or Johanesburg could maybe work with reasonable prices and good marketing.

@6:10, why does it bother you so much how does someone here see Air Serbia's future? Or could it be that you just don't want it to happen? If EY ordered 10 planes for JU with an estimated value of about $1 000 000 000, why wouldn't it invest more? EY is obviously here to stay. So much of arrogance and pessimism in your attitude...

So much expansion in 4 years is way too optimistic, but this will all depend on JU´s generated revenue and if EY will spend more money in investing or maybe send more Jet Airways or Air Berlin wide-bodies to BEG.

Air Serbia/Etihad will have to decide what kind of airline Air Serbia will be in the future before ordering aircraft. Are they going to continue to be boutique regional airline that ignores LCC competition? Or do they plan on transitioning into Norwegian-type of airline with both long haul and regional/Euro low cost model? If they decide on the current model they may fade away within a decade.

Boutique airlines no longer work so well in Europe. Nowadays, most people prefer to pay less, if they can and not expect so much pampering on shorter flights. The typical tourist would pay 100€ for a RT, use hand baggage only and eat McDonalds menu at the airport before their trip to save money. Even AF/BA/KL have applied this model on their shorter flights.

Facts are well known. Serbia made deposit to Airbus during Milosevic days, google it up if you are not familiar. That deposit was built into the NEO deal and Airbus confirmed it. NEO payment schedule starts on delivery, which is likely to be Q1 2019. Accounting will differ, but essentially it will be similar to current payment for Airbus fleet lease, so if Air Serbia can pay for lease, they will be able to pay for NEOs.

Easy peasy:On 1 August 2013, Jat Airways and Etihad Airways entered into an agreement of strategic partnership. Under the agreement, Etihad acquired a 49% stake in Jat Airways and management rights for a period of five years.Practically speaking, EY owns almost half of JU which is not a low percentage as you can imagine. The current look and feel is definitely not inspired by the old JAT.

Proof 2: On 23 June 2016, Air Serbia begun operating non-stop flights between Belgrade and New York using an Airbus A330-200 leased from another Etihad partner, Jet Airways.-----Which CEE country´s airline can, today, afford to lease a wide-body aircraft and slots in JFK except LOT? Not even the Greeks.So, please just respect others´ opinions and stick to reality.Without EY "miracle" JU would probably been still operating their 20 year old B733 and AT72 with the 3 circled logo.

There is no other way for JU to finance a deal of this magnitude. It will be in the order of somewhere between USD500-600M. i don;t even understand why they are entering into such a deal - this could break them

JU will need to cover all the Balkan capitals at least twice daily or code share to connect to JFK and future Beijing.OU need to open bases in SKP and TIA and to launch routes to OTP/SOF/KBP/TBS/DEB/CLJ.JP need to either find a big partner such as EK or to focus on destinations not covered by VCE/ZAG or BUD e.g. Teheran, Marrakech, Gerona, etc.

I have been reading some of the comments on what new aircraft the airlines should get, but there are also other issues that need to be taken into consideration.

First, as new terminals are being upgraded or built, more jet ways (bridges) will be provided and connect directly to the aircraft. Buses are a thing of the past. They will never go away, but I am pretty sure that passengers won't miss it. Some of the aircraft mentioned have air stairs built into the airplane's entry door. Unless a ramp is used, these bridges can't be used. Buses will still be needed.

Second, turbo props are efficient aircraft, but they are also high maintenance aircraft.Also, a lot of passengers don't like turbo props. These days they want a jet. The aircraft manufacturers know this. Look at the aircraft they are producing. Twin engine planes with the engines on the wings. The Q's, CRJ's, ATR's, etc. have fallen out of favor with the traveling public.

Third, the airlines always have to deal with the same old problems that they have been dealing with for decades. Summer and winter passenger traffic. Global economic conditions. Conflicts in the world. Distances they fly.

Airlines today have to choose aircraft that fit their needs (markets) and that is not easy. They get it right, they make money and everyone is happy. They get it wrong, they lose money or even worse, go out of business.

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